


The Fleet Mascot

by nonky



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 02:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6034669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All pretense of professionalism and military discipline had slipped off Captain Lee Adama's back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fleet Mascot

**Author's Note:**

> I could not say where to place this in canon. It would suit more pre-New Caprica, but realistically seeing Lee and Kara snarl at each other after combat could have been a once a week recreation event. It also started out with more humour, but Lee was deeply unappreciative of mood lightening.

The Viper hit the deck too hard, slipped and corrected roughly. For the first time, in or out of combat, Apollo had nearly botched his landing. His smack to the canopy might have cracked it, but he showed no reaction that wasn't pinpoint focused on the Viper incoming after his own. 

"KARA!"

All pretense of professionalism and military discipline had slipped off Captain Lee Adama's back. He shoved his discarded helmet and collar at a deckhand, clanking down his ladder and stomping over to Starbuck's stilling bird. He walked dangerously close to the wheels, face glittering with sweat and an expression of real rage. 

"Get the frak out here!"

Several people flinched as the Viper came to to a stop too close to the CAG, who never showed a flicker of concern for getting run over by the plane carrying his usually favourite pilot. It was clear Starbuck's ability to roll over him on some things was not in effect that day. He actually reached out and slapped at the smoking nose, getting a glare from the cockpit. 

Surprised murmurs escaped several people. They all knew, Captain Adama most of all, Kara Thrace loved her Viper. Most days he would be the one to chide anyone hurting Starbuck's baby and grab a rag to buff out the fingerprints before she saw them. The tension on deck multiplied when Kara expertly reached up, popped her canopy open and made a vague gesture telling the incensed Captain to wait a minute. 

"Right frakking now, Kara!"

Seelix glanced at Cally and pushed the ladder to meet Starbuck's indolent move to stand up inside her bird. She sat at the edge of the cockpit and opened her collar, in no hurry to obey her commanding officer. 

"Keep your pants on, Lee," she said calmly, her flight suit muffling the words even as the seal hissed open. She grinned at Seelix, bowing her head slightly. "Thank you, Specialist."

The day was getting odder all the time. All the pilots had a tendency to forget the deck crew once in a while, walking past them and accepting their help without small talk. It was expected during the frenzy getting to the tubes to defend the fleet. When it stretched to rudeness, Chief Tyrol would step in and tactfully remind the pilot who kept them flying with even a fraction of safety. Starbuck was never rude, and when she was in a good mood she knew every name and face. She just tended to be more focused on greeting her fellow pilots more than thanking the deck monkeys. Sometimes she was the one barreling out of her plane to yell at reckless nuggets with Apollo.

"You're welcome, sir?" Chief Tyrol was working his way closer to the action, discreetly pushing people out of the clutch of stubborn onlookers and directing them elsewhere. He was careful not to look too long at either pilot, especially the show Starbuck was putting on of having all the time in the worlds.

Her climb to the deck was leisurely, helmet wobbling as she went. Kara jumped the last few steps and reached up to pull the helmet off, letting it dangle on the end of her arm. She snagged the collar with her other hand, and Lee grabbed both and tossed them down with barely a glance to aim away from other people. Knuckledraggers scattered, startled and not bothering to hide it as the two pilots collided.

"Who do you think you are, Kara?! You're flying like a lunatic, thrill-seeking when you are needed for this fight! That stunt-" Lee paused, and his chest heaved, "-could have gotten you killed and left everyone else open to getting blown out of the sky after you! You're irresponsible, you don't give a frak about anybody else and you are acting like consequences do not apply to you."

Her smile was cold, anger instead of fear tensing her body. "That's the job, sir, the one your orders gave me! I did my job. I can't tiptoe around the frakkin' Cylons and expect to be safe out there. That's the only way it works!"

He grasped her by the shoulders and spun her to her Viper, slapping again at the scorch mark like a wound. "DYING IS NOT YOUR JOB!"

The CAG let her go to give a third slap at the Viper, this time getting a shove from behind as Starbuck defended her plane. "Hey!"

"Sirs, do you want to talk in my office," Tyrol tried gently. "My crew needs to get the deck cleared. Let's just do the checks so you can-"

"Starbuck here can do the checks for both of us," Apollo said firmly. "Get on it, Lieutenant. I'll be right back. I need something from my locker. Stay here."

Her eyes narrowed, but she took the clipboards and swiped the pen blindly across pages. Starbuck watched him leave and continued watching until the CAG came back with his flightsuit tied around his waist. One hand was tightly closed until he was standing in front of her. His face was smoothed out to blandness, and for the first time she gave a twitch betraying nerves. 

"I just talked to the Commander. He and I think you need a reminder to get yourself back to the barn alive," Apollo told her. He reached behind her neck, a long blue strand of fabric curling out of his fist. "If this doesn't get you thinking about saving your own ungrateful six, I don't know what will."

Her zipper was loud in the hush. He pulled it only an inch and spread the collar back. Both hands now around her neck, he pulled the ribbon taut. It wound around her throat once, twice, and a third time, crossing over at the front. Starbuck swallowed, looking over his shoulder with a tremble of her lips. 

Everyone on the deck seemed to think they were going to watch Starbuck get strangled right in front of them. She stood at attention, waiting as her friend and rumoured lover handled her with angry remove. The slip of ribbon as he tied a knot sounded harsh, though the Captain was delicate about it. It didn't bite into her skin, just resting in a neat bow as he tied it off and lowered his hands. 

"This is part of your uniform. You will wear it at all times other than flights and showers," he told her. "You're the damn cat, everyone on this ship expects you to get yourself home in one piece, and if I find a godsdamned bell you'll be wearing that, too. Maybe then I'll be able to keep track of you well enough not to shoot you down by mistake when you cross into my firing line to show off."

Both pilots moved a little apart, trembling as the moment cooled from anger to anxious regard of one another. The deck crew, previously fascinated by the scene, was immediately too busy to even look up from their tasks. They had to fix Apollo's bullet graze in Starbuck's plane and maybe erase the haunted silence where there should be a concerned outburst. 

Then the bottom dropped out entirely, because Kara Thrace sighed and whispered a promise in the quietest voice she'd ever used. "I won't do it again."

Lee sighed back, and turned to leave with a short, sharp jerk of his chin. "No, you won't."

But they walked out together as they had walked in, close enough to touch and embodying oaths.


End file.
